According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Indian sisters Jyoti and Kiran Matharoo, who were arrested in Lagos last year, on accusations of extortion and blackmail, received emergency travel documents to escape from Nigeria.

They were in a situation of "extreme urgency," and that's why the High Commission of Canada in Lagos issued emergency travel documents for the sisters, who had made international headlines after allegedly attempting to blackmail one of the world's richest men, reports CBS News on Tuesday, May 16.

After their arrest, the sisters admitted on camera to being the owners of the now defunct damaging website NaijaGistLive and later apologised to Femi Otedola, his family and other petitioners they had written stories or attempted to extort money from.

Taranjot and Kiranjot Matharoo were arraigned before a magistrate court in Yaba and granted bail in the sum of N500,000 each and two sureties. The police seized a laptop, a camera and 2 Canadian passports from the sisters. However, at a second hearing into the case in January 2017, they did not appear in court.The High Commission had issued documents for travel on a "discretionary basis," allowing the sisters to leave Lagos for Canada on Dec. 31, 2016.

In a statement, the Immigration Department confirmed it reviewed the "necessary documents" to ensure there were no restrictions on the women leaving Nigeria and also to determine that "there was a significant risk to their physical safety."

Kiran said she charged the only tickets available for Jan. 1, 2017 — business class with Air France, with a stop in France, during which they couldn't leave the airport. After landing in Toronto, they handed over their temporary travel document.